While concern over the budget deficit has gone up, the percentage giving priority to dealing with the nation’s energy problem has declined significantly — and this decline has taken place among Republicans, Democrats and independents alike. In the current survey, 49 percent rate energy a top priority, down 11 points from 60 percent in 2009. In the late 2000s, about 6 in 10 consistently gave top priority to dealing with the nation’s energy problem. The current number is more in line with views from the early years of that decade, when the percentage that said dealing with the nation’s energy problem should be a top priority ranged from the low-to-mid 40s.

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By 2050 or so, the human population is expected to pass nine billion. Those billions will be seeking food, water and other resources on a planet where humans are already shaping climate and the web of life. Dot Earth was created by Andrew Revkin in October 2007 -- in part with support from a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship -- to explore ways to balance human needs and the planet's limits.